Chapter 3: So Strange!
23:07, Huacheng East District, Lianhua Bridge Auto Repair Factory, the largest auto repair factory in Huacheng.
Inside the factory, a physically and mentally exhausted Li Xuan sat on the sofa in the reception area, staring blankly at the variety show playing on the television, his coffee already cold in his hand.
“Tap, tap, tap!” The sound of leather boots colliding with the floor came through.
A young man in work clothes walked over from the repair workshop, wearing a tired but satisfied smile from making a good profit.
“Brother Li, the tires on all five of your cars have been replaced!”
“Brother Li?”
“Oh, good.” Li Xuan came back to his senses and looked at the man, asking, “How much? I’ll pay by card.”
The man chuckled awkwardly, “Haha, Brother Li, you really are funny. Your friend took care of it for you a long time ago!”
“Already taken care of…?” Li Xuan muttered to himself, further deepening his suspicion about Bai Kai.
To this day, he still did not know that Bai Kai was the one who had punctured his tires and disassembled his wheels.
————
“The other four cars can be parked here for now; please do some maintenance for me. I’ll come back to pick them up when I have time!”
“Brother Li, don’t worry!”
“Sorry for the trouble, I need to go now.”
“Alright, take care and drive safely!”
“Bang—!”
After closing the car door, Li Xuan adjusted his seat slightly, fastened his seat belt, gripped the steering wheel tightly, and narrowed his gaze, instantly shedding his previous dejection and melancholy, his demeanor becoming sharp.
That feeling was not as if he was in front of the auto repair factory door, but rather as if he were at the starting line of the Tour de France rally.
In fact, when he was younger, his dream was to participate in the Tour de France rally, but as time passed, that dream faded away, and the rally had been canceled for many years due to the frequent occurrence of urban legends.
Sometimes, Li Xuan envied Bai Kai; in his view, if he had Bai Kai’s incredible speed, perhaps he could relive those old dreams and experience the thrill of racing while hunting urban legends.
“Vroom—!” The engine of the sports car roared on the empty city highway.
With the passionate music of “MAKE MY DAY” accompanying him, Li Xuan drove his beloved car on the way back to his apartment. As he watched the city’s night scene change outside the window, his brow furrowed in thought.
He always felt that he seemed to have forgotten something important today.
But what was it?
Was it the reason for Bai Kai’s unusual behavior? Suddenly “exploding” all five car tires at once?
No, while that guy usually only targeted one car, he would never act on a whim; the reasons for his actions could never be judged by common sense, as if he had a serious mental issue.
That was…
“Vroom vroom—!”
At that moment of deep thought, Li Xuan’s phone suddenly vibrated, interrupting his train of thought.
“Hello, disciple, it’s me.” Upon answering the call, a familiar voice came through the car speakers.
It was his master, Bi Xuzi.
“Master?” Li Xuan’s eyes brightened slightly.
Although he didn’t know why his master had been angry before, it seemed he had forgiven him now, right?
His master, who had given him the cold shoulder for a long time, suddenly took the initiative to call, making him quite happy.
“Yeah, it’s me. Your junior sister Huasang is returning tomorrow, right? The Chief Priest asked me to check how she’s doing in Huacheng.”
“That girl is having a tough time; at such a young age, she has to bear the risk of Spirit Patterns going out of control. To be honest, this time she’s going far away; not only the Chief Priest, but even some of the old guys like me are quite worried about her.”
“Speaking of which, I don’t know what the Chief Priest is thinking; knowing her Spirit Patterns have issues, he still sent her on such a difficult task. Though we usually don’t care for her, we only do it for show, but this time the Chief Priest really went too far…”
“It’s fine, Master, don’t worry! Junior Sister Huasang is doing well; she’s well-fed and sleeping soundly.” Li Xuan smiled and interrupted.
As soon as he finished speaking, the smile on his face suddenly froze, and the corners of his mouth twitched violently.
Wait, Junior Sister Huasang?!
d*mn, how could I have forgotten about her?
In that moment, Li Xuan finally recalled what had been troubling him all day.
“Hello? Disciple, why did you suddenly stop talking?”
“Uh…” Li Xuan wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and stammered, “Nothing, Master. Uh, I encountered a turtle who challenged me to a race on the road and seriously suspect it’s an urban legend event; I can’t talk to you right now!”
“Hmph, how long have you been away from the sect? Still acting so recklessly, what kind of behavior is that? Just take care of yourself!”
“Mm mm, got it, bye!” Li Xuan responded perfunctorily.
The moment he hung up the phone, he suddenly jerked the steering wheel. Accompanied by the screeching sound of tires against the ground, the sports car skidded in a beautiful arc on the highway, turning towards Mudan Street.
————
Late at night, Mudan Street was silent, the thick fog drifting over the winding waterways, the houses on either side had no lights.
In the alley in front of the Huacheng Folk Culture Research Management Bureau, the wind blew gently. Under the tall walls and intricately carved eaves, a girl lay face down, motionless on the ground.
“Tap, tap, tap—!” Suddenly, the sound of hurried footsteps broke the silence of the alley.
Li Xuan, looking anxious, rushed in from the end of the alley, and upon seeing Huasang lying on the ground, he first breathed a sigh of relief but then his expression turned serious.
Something might have happened.
Earlier, when Huasang arrived in Huacheng, Bi Xuzi had hurriedly told him, “Remember to let your junior sister Huasang loosen her bindings,” then hung up, leaving no room for further discussion. He hadn’t informed him that she was at risk of having her Spirit Patterns go out of control.
Bi Xuzi’s attitude, coupled with the bad gossip circulating among the disciples regarding Huasang, and her behavior since arriving in Huacheng, had made Li Xuan dislike this junior sister to the extreme.
But now…
Li Xuan looked worriedly at Huasang, and upon noticing the neatly packaged snacks beside her, the corners of his mouth twitched. After probing her condition with his spiritual sense, his rollercoaster emotions finally reached a conclusion.
Her Spirit Patterns were very stable; it seemed that Junior Sister Huasang was mostly full and had started to “take care of herself” again.
Haha, his master always liked to dramatize with alarmist rhetoric.
Always saying I’m reckless, but he never considers who I learned it from!
Li Xuan grumbled internally, and suddenly thought of the concern his master had shown for Huasang during the call, feeling a pang of jealousy in his heart.
Yes, he was feeling jealous.
Though his master’s approach of “strict with oneself, lenient with others” was understandable, it always made him feel like as his disciple, he was like the guaranteed reward of a mobile game gacha.
As is well-known, being rude yet kind-hearted and tormenting younger generations is an old tradition of Dachunyang Palace.
Sitting on a stone platform at the edge of the alley, waiting for Huasang to wake up, Li Xuan rummaged through her unfinished snacks and found half a bag of peanuts. He began to eat them out of boredom to pass the time.
“Hey, these peanuts are pretty good!”
Having tasted an unexpected delicacy, Li Xuan couldn’t help but exclaim.
Seemingly disturbed by his voice, Huasang made a soft sound and slowly woke up.
Seeing her gradually sit up, Li Xuan raised an eyebrow and awkwardly smiled, “Sorry, junior sister, I ran into some trouble today and nearly forgot about you.”
“Hmm, it’s okay.” Huasang, sitting up, obediently nodded, rubbed her dazed eyes, and looked at Li Xuan. Upon seeing the bag of peanuts in his hand, her expression changed slightly.
“Elder Brother, are you very hungry?”
“No, why?” Li Xuan tilted his head in confusion.
“If you’re not, you’d better not eat them; those are dirty.” Huasang said indifferently.
“Dirty?” Li Xuan looked at the packaging of the peanuts in confusion, which had the words “Xu Fu Ji Peanut Chocolate” printed prominently.
How are they chocolate peanuts, not just peanuts?
Wait!
Junior sister seems to never eat such hard-to-chew things…
At this thought, Li Xuan’s expression stiffened as he cast a questioning look at Huasang.
Her messy hair obscured her face, making it impossible to see her expression, but he could see her slightly nodding, confirming his guess.
She had been hungry for almost a whole day; jelly and yogurt were clearly not enough.
Seeing this, Li Xuan’s face turned pale, and his stomach churned.
“YUE—YUE—!”
In that moment, he suddenly realized why the elders of the sect held a contradictory feeling of both concern and resentment towards Huasang.
It must be because sometimes, she really doesn’t do anything right? Li Xuan thought.
————
“‘Urban Legend Incident: The Whip of God’? What is this? Attila? Did a game character finally turn into an urban legend? I can’t believe the Huns are rising from the dead!”
“Holy cow, holy cow, that’s awesome!”
Walking along the path from the garage to the apartment, Lu Yibei couldn’t help but exclaim as he looked at a short video on his phone.
It was a drone footage video lasting about a minute, showing a desolate Gobi Desert with a grotesque gash approximately fifty meters wide, sparkling with countless sparks, winding into the distant horizon.
Just as the title of the short video stated, the scene appeared as though a god was swinging down a whip of destruction, causing the ground to crack and fire to erupt.
So terrifying! It must be a near-cataclysm-grade spirit ability user or an urban legend that could cause such a big scene, right? But…
What does this have to do with the torturer king of Huacheng?
Just enjoying the show! Lu Yibei shrugged dismissively.
At present, a lot of people wanted to scroll through a few short videos whenever they had a moment, and Lu Yibei was no exception. However, under the reminder of the Void, he always paid attention to the strange news while scrolling, secretly speculating about the hidden urban legend events.
According to the Void, those peculiar and unfathomable news stories were often smokescreens released by the Siye Society or similar organizations trying to cover up the truth behind urban legend events.
Just like those videos analyzing how some countries had already been infiltrated by urban legends, which seemed reasonable; otherwise, why would so many foreign social media outlets be talking about “mystery burdens”?
Yeah, not long ago, the Ganges River in New Delhi turned crystal clear overnight—it must be suspicious!
Oh right, the short video app eating up time is also a big problem!
As Lu Yibei glanced through short videos, he quietly complained and, before he knew it, had arrived in front of his own home.
Putting away his phone, he took out his keys to open the door. Upon entering, he changed his shoes and ignored the small urban legends behaving sneakily in the living room, heading straight upstairs.
He didn’t know when it started, but he had developed a sense of anticipation for Wang Ying’s awakening.
It was like waiting for an unknown pet egg to hatch in a pet-raising game.
Although the probability of Wang Ying waking up on her own was very low, what if a miracle happened?
Standing at the staircase, he turned on the light and glanced at the bedside table, a silent sigh escaping him.
Wang Ying was still a ball.
Then, he noticed the headphones hanging on Wang Ying, frowned, and turned around to shout downstairs, “I said, are those headphones on her yours? Didn’t I tell you not to move her around?!”
I’m not worried about her having problems; I’m mainly concerned that if you guys have too much interaction with her, you might have problems… Lu Yibei added in his heart.
After a few seconds, a weak reply came from below, “We, we just thought we’d help you with prenatal education, Ms. Witch! We meant well!”
Prenatal education? Lu Yibei furrowed his brows, picked up the headphones and listened for a moment, his face immediately darkening.
In that instant, he suddenly felt that perhaps his excessive care for Wang Ying in the past few days had incited jealousy in the little urban legends at home, leading them to conspire to harm Wang Ying.
Just like how after having a second child, the firstborn might feel neglected and seek revenge against their younger sibling.
“d*mn! The recitation of the ‘Great Compassion Mantra’? Are you trying to teach him through prenatal education or exorcise him? Tsk, it’s all nonsense!”
After a quick complaint, Lu Yibei swiftly turned off the playing scripture recitation, switched to “Deyun Society Comedy” and carefully put the headphones back on Wang Ying.
Now that’s prenatal education!
When the child is finally “born,” they’ll be articulate and persuasive, so they won’t be bullied at school.
Yes, in Lu Yibei’s plan, he intended to send Wang Ying to school.
In his view, Wang Ying lacked the basic knowledge to understand this world, and her worldview was somewhat problematic; she needed an education to better integrate into society.
Thinking about this, Lu Yibei gently patted Wang Ying and took out Ling Tai Purification from his bag. He held the sword, sat cross-legged on the bed, focused his mind, and began to channel spirit energy into it.
A faint golden light spread like flowing water, and the ancient broken sword emitted a buzzing sound, creating ripples in the air.
In the next moment, an anomaly suddenly occurred.
The surrounding air became heavy, as if an immense stone had appeared out of nowhere, pressing down on him, creating a vague sensation of suffocation.
Then, as if a hallucination had occurred, Li Xuan’s figure flashed before his eyes.
His face was pale, his expression twisted in pain, as if he were enduring immense suffering.
In an instant, goosebumps covered Lu Yibei’s body, as if he had touched something dirty. He abruptly raised his hand and threw the Ling Tai Purification away.
“What the hell!? What is this?”
“Why did I see that guy’s figure?”
“It’s over, it’s over, something big has happened!”
Lu Yibei knocked his head, looking expressionlessly at the Ling Tai Purification that had fallen to the ground, questioning his life.
When attempting to enter a dream and contact the ancestor, Li Xuan’s figure had suddenly flashed before him.
It was as if, while intensely focused on appreciating Bai Xiaohua’s MMA, a shocking scene from a horror movie had suddenly popped up from under her little skirt.
Though he didn’t understand why this happened, it was shocking.
So freaking strange!
